Georgetown Waterfront Park
Not So Long Ago: Wisconsin and Prospect
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This week on Not So Long Ago, GM stops by a store whose departure (both from Georgetown and then later from rest of the city) left a large hole in people’s hearts: Olsson’s Books.
Olsson’s Books was started by John Olsson in 1972. At its peak it had nine stores across the Washington area. The Georgetown location, though, closed in 2000. Here’s a photo from the inside taken by the Post right before it was closed:
Since Olsson’s left Georgetown, this space has bounced back and forth between different clothing stores, most recently under the name Miss Sixty. Miss Sixty closed last year, and after a long vacancy, the store will soon open as an Ann Taylor Loft.
In 2008, Olsson’s still had six stores still open; GM frequented the Dupont location. But competition from big box stores and the Internet left the store struggling. It declared bankrupcy in June of that year and then abruptly closed all its stores in September.
Sadly, just over two years later John Olsson died of a heart attack.
While John and his stores are gone, GM can attest that they live on in the memories of all who loved them both. Continue reading
Filed under Not So Long Ago
The Morning Metropolitan
Photo by Focused Until Successful.
Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:
- Former Senator Charles Percy, who was instrumental in the construction of the Georgetown Waterfront Park, died on Saturday, just days after the park he dreamed of was finally brought to completion.
- And speaking of that park, check out how much kids love that new fountain.
- In advance of more Zoning Commission hearings, GU rolls out several this-is-us-trying-to-please-the-neighbors initiatives. This is what’s going to happen: GU will argue that the earlier zoning commission testimonies need to be discounted since these measures now will fix the complaints. And the neighbors will argue that the measures won’t fix the problem and that this is exactly why they wanted the record closed for everything but the DDOT issues.
Filed under The Morning Metropolitan
One Last Remnant of Washington’s Cable Cars Lives on in Georgetown
At the far western end of M St. stands the massive Car Barn. Built in 1895, the Car Barn served as a depot for the streetcars until they stopped running in 1962. After changing hands a couple times, the building now serves as extra space for Georgetown University. But GM just noticed a very cool feature in the building’s architecture that reflects its earlier use.
On the pediment of the building it still reads Capital Traction. The Capital Traction Co. was one of the earlier mass transit companies that operated in DC and it constructed the Car Barn with an intent for it to be a Union Station. As described by Wikipedia:
Union Station was designed to serve four streetcar companies: The old Washington and Georgetown lines would use the ground floor on M Street NW while the Washington, Arlington and Falls Church and the projected Great Falls and Old Dominion were to come across the Potomac from Rosslyn entering the second and third floors respectively on steeltrestles. The Metropolitan would use the roof. In reality, the Virginia companies never used it and the Metropolitan only sparingly so. The Washington and Great Falls took over the third floor. The station opened on May 27, 1897 and contained Washington’s only cable loop.
That’s right, for a very short while Washington DC had cable cars. From 1890-1899, the Washington and Georgetown Railroad and then its successor, Capital Traction, ran cable cars through the city. Continue reading
Filed under History
The Morning Metropolitan
Photo by tedeytan.
Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:
- GM heard through the grapevine that Griffin Market has been leased to someone who want to turn it into a neighborhood butcher shop (yay). Plus the old Consignment Shop next door may reopen as a coffee shop (double yay). Also, Panera might move in to the space next to Five Guys (boo).
- New NBC show stars Georgetown native Whitney Cummings. The show’s called “Whitney”, she plays (obviously) the title character, and her character’s mother is named “Patti” much like Whitney’s actual mother (and neighbor of GM) Patti Cumming.
- Streetcars to Georgetown as a jobs-driver.
Filed under The Morning Metropolitan
Verizon FIOS Still a Long Ways Away for Georgetown
GM is a fan of English soccer. And that means he mostly has to rely on the Fox Soccer Channel for his Saturday morning fix. And sadly for GM, this means not only having to pay an extra couple bucks a month to Comcast, it also means not watching it in high definition. And seeing people writhe on the ground in fake agony in standard definition is just not the same.
Verizon FIOS, however, does offer this channel in high definition. Plus a whole lot of other channels and features you might actually care about. But Verizon is rolling FIOS out very, very slowly in DC. In 2009, the District signed a memorandum of understanding with Verizon to bring FIOS to DC. It specifies when each neighborhood will get the service. In the first batch is Woodley Park, Dupont, Woodley Park, Petworth, Anacostia, and Southwest. Continue reading
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The Morning Metropolitan
Photo by M.V. Jantzen.
Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:
- More on the waterfront park opening and a story behind the man that help bring it to us.
- Big Planet Comics is leaving Georgetown now that the property was sold. It’s going to U St.
Filed under The Morning Metropolitan
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